My uncle sent me this one a while back...makes me
giggle every time I read it!

The following is a question given on University
of Washington engineering mid-term. The answer was so "profound" that
the Professor shared it with colleagues, which is why we now have the pleasure
of enjoying it as well.

Most of the students wrote Proofs of their
beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it *is
compressed) or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of hell is
changing in time. So we need to know the rate that souls are moving into hell
and the rate they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a
soul gets to hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As
for how many souls are entering hell, let's look at the different religions that
exist in the world today. Some of these religions state that if you are not a
member of their religion, you will go to hell. Since there are more than one of
these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can
project that all souls go to hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we
can expect the number of souls in hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look
at the rate of change of the volume in hell because Boyle's Law states that in
order for the temperature and pressure in hell to stay the same, the volume of
hell has to expand as souls are added. This gives two possibilities:

1. If hell is expanding at a rate slower
than the rate at which souls enter hell, then the temperature and pressure in
hell will increase until all hell breaks loose.

2. Of course, if hell is expanding at a
rate faster than the increase of souls in hell, then the temperature and
pressure will drop until hell freezes over. So which is it? If we accept the
postulate given to me by Teresa Banyan during my freshman year that,
"...it will be a cold day in hell before I sleep with you", and take
into account the fact that I still have not succeeded in having sexual
relations with her, then #2 cannot be true, and thus I am sure that hell is
exothermic and will not freeze.